END WITH A BANG !!

    
We writers are repeatedly hit over the head, brow beaten, and arm-twisted about the importance of great opening lines, grabbers, hook-lines (call them what you may). But I ask you, where are the lobbyists for great endings? Where are the "end-with-a-bang" police?


Good literature is filled with great opening lines: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" from A Tale of Two Cities, "Call me Ismael." from Moby Dick, and "Scarlet O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it." from Gone With the Wind. Most of these opening lines we can quote, or at least recognize when we hear them. But, WHAT  OF ENDINGS?


We all recall Rhett Butler's line in the movie version of GWTW, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" . However, in the book version there is not "frankly" and the last line is Scarlett's "After all, tomorrow is another day." And who can forget Sydney Carton's farewell at the end of A Tale of Two Cities." It is a farm far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it ta a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."


These are the great endings we writers should strive toward, and even if we fail, at least in the trying, we will come close to more satisfying endings. One which we can be proud of and consider "A Hit!


It is not easy.


We all have good intentions. We aim to give our readers something to remember. Something that sticks in their hearts. Something to share with others.


Unfortunately, that goal is difficult to achieve, indeed. Where are our Muses when we need them?


Sometimes, writers have to pan for gold elsewhere. We have to dig deeper to create endings as memorable as any ever written.